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The Ism Book: C
Communitarianism (Idea and Movement in politics) — With the demise of true socialism as a viable intellectual force, communitarianism is now the most active philosophical opposition to libertarianism. Communitarianism is usually presented in a vague terms, but it is probably best understood as a mild form of collectivism or "democratic socialism". Communitarianism has had some influence in the realm of practical politics, as witness the fact that Hillary Clinton is reputed to admire many communitarian thinkers.http://www.openthought.org/ismbook/C.html
It is easy to imagine Clinton embarking on an anti-vice crusade. She spouts the subtly repressive principles and platitudes of communitarianism, envisioning a majoritarian society in which collective concerns almost always prevail over individual rights. Remember the politics of meaning, her 1993 call for a collective spiritual renewal, her reminder that we are all "creatures of God"? Hillary has always been something of a virtuecrat, expressly focused on infusing society with the values and presumed virtues of religion.http://past.thenation.com/cgi-bin/framizer.cgi?url=http://past.thenation.com/issue/990809/0809kaminer.shtml
Two weeks after he graduated from Oxford in 1975, his mother died of throat cancer.http://promotions.nypost.com/041198/1773.htm"It knocked the socks off Tony," said Peter Thomson, an Australian theology graduate student who introduced Blair to communitarianism, a blend of Christian and socialist ideas for building a more compassionate society.
Influenced by Thomson, Blair was confirmed in the Anglican Church and has remained a devout churchgoer.
Fired with a new sense of purpose, Blair became active in the Labor Party and studied law. Around this time, he met Cherie Booth, another law student with a passion for politics. They married in 1980. [snip]
Communitarianism is creeping on to the political agenda. Many people have commented on the ‘communitarian’ tone of Tony Blair’s language, and of much of the content of the last Labour manifesto. David Willets, the Conservative MP for Havant, has made something of a stir by advancing the idea of ‘civic conservatism’, which has many ‘communitarian’ overtones. The problem in most peoples’ minds is - what on earth is it? The problem is that ‘communitarianism’ is in danger of becoming all things to all people: a general warm feeling that communities are a good thing, and that somehow they provide an antidote to the excessive individualism of the 1980s. [snip]http://www.alan-whitehead.org.uk/speeches/_article018.htm
Communitarianism
Communist
It's just like boiling frogs. Put them in a pan and heat the water slowly and before they realize they are in danger they are already being boiled!
Haven't heard this word much lately (kinda like "keynesianism" or "Philips Curve"). After the Soviet empire fell, the Left scrambled to come up with some non-threatening doublespeak terms to use as cover in their ongoing war for statism, socialism and collectivism. Politically, they came up with the "Third Way," relying on the fact that most people had forgotten how an earlier cohort of socialists, exemplified by Mussolini, had pulled the same trick a couple of generations before, even using the same term. On a more bogus-philosophical level, they came up with "Communitarianism." Remember how the nineties were supposed to reverse the "Decade of Greed" and bring community front-and-center? That was the Communitarian doublespeak filtering down from the NY Review of Books to the popular media. Sounds pretty hollow now, but it was a useful propagandistic tool to get the clinton-blair crowd into power and keep the leftists afloat after the fall of the Wall.
You're right....the greed of the 80's. Those bums.
I'm upset because the WP is trying to pin this label of Bush!
Needed: Catchword For Bush Ideology
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10634-2001Jan31.html
Along with that, there is also Commonism. Here's an article from my web site that Tom DeWeese wrote back in October 2000.
Commonism: The new face of Communism
Commonism = "common heritage of mankind."
Communitarianism
Communist
Commonism
The callers on C-SPAN seemed to like the sound of "community".......
Communitarianism is a buzz word like the phrase "third way" - a soft core way of easing us down the Hershey Highway to full communism.
Even the process of debating/dicussing/defining the term soaks up mindshare in the mass media, making it hard for "us" to get our message of freedom and responsibility through.
The term has been around for more than 20 years. I recall the Des Moines Register discovering and prolaiming Communitarianism as the wave of the future. Shortly afterward, they sold out to USA Today.
The liberal media loves it. "Community" over individualism, except for them of course.
Communitarianism
I don't care how many extra letters you put in there, it's still what it is.
A Communitarian is a Communist who hasn't confiscated all your guns yet.
One communitarian doctrine is that the Second Amendment means that the local government should keep all guns in the "community" locked up in a communal armory.
Thanks for the info and the links. BUMP.
Contrary to what many people on this thread have said , communitarianism has nothing to do with communism. Amitai Etzioni is one leading communitarian.
I think the communitarians have some interesting ideas -- but not all of them are practical.
For a book that critiques communitarianism, try The Revolt of the Elites by Christopher Lasch.
Needed: Catchword For Bush Ideology
Communitarianism isn't it. Bush's "Compassionate Conservatism" and appreciation for faith-based intermediating institutions places him squarely in what is known as the "Traditionalist Conservative" camp. Edmund Burke is generally considered the father of this school of thought.
Some people make the mistake of thinking that Traditionalist Conservativism and Communitarianism are closely related, because some of the emphases and rhetoric sound remotely similar. However, Communitarianism has much more in common with Fascism and National Socialism, but with the racist and nationalist sharp edges removed (thus making it appear a lot more warm, fuzzy, and appealing). Making sure the trains run on time would be of as much concern to modern-day Communitarians as it was to Mussolini in Italy. Making sure that the electricity continues to flow, even to those who are "disadvantaged" and thus must be subsidized by the rest of us, is a Communitarian indicator which is in the news today.
Communitarians say that "it takes a village to raise a child", and take it as a given that everything that happens in the village should only be with the management and approval of the government. Traditionalist Conservatives say that it takes families living within intact, functional communities with healthy intermediating institutions to raise a child -- and this best occurs when the government tends to just do those very few things that only it can do, appreciates families and intermediating institutions as valuable partners, and generally tries to stay out of their way.
Guess which camp Hillary is in?
Beware of Communitarianism! Those who are behind it are the same ones who came up with the phrase "economic democracy" as a cover for Socialism, and for the same purposes. These people only want to deceive and lure the unsuspecting into their camp.
Amitai Etzioni is one leading communitarian.
He was on C-SPAN this morning. Dreadful man. He thought "It Takes A Village" was a good communitarian book, yuck! And, he said Ashcroft was a breach of communitarianism.
I am not surprised that a communitarian would like that book. Like I said, some of their ideas are interesting.
As far as It Takes a Village goes, I'm not sure I completely disagree. Where Hillary et al go wrong is assuming that government should have anything to do it.
I am not surprised that a communitarian would like that book. Like I said, some of their ideas are interesting.
You really need to familiarize yourself more with the Traditionalist Conservative school. You will find everything that appeals to you there, but with none of the statism.
The problem is that ‘communitarianism’ is in danger of becoming all things to all people: a general warm feeling that communities are a good thing, and that somehow they provide an antidote to the excessive individualism of the 1980s. [snip]
This is probably more accurate than calling it communism is disguise.
Sorry, there isn't anything worthy about socialism.
I may know more about it than you think. But the views of most posters on FR are very far removed from those, of say, Russell Kirk.
There is nothing worthy about the outcomes of socialism.
I think that it was coined by, or championed by Etzioni (sp?) a modern day philosopher/academic/commentator.
I'd like a large order of "self-actualization" to go with that heaping helpin' of "Communitarianism". Oh, and don't forget the bullsh&t!!!
Oh yeah, Etzioni was a pinhead! They tried to cram this stuff down my throat at college..just a bunch of pointey head professor/non-real world stuff...
Amitai Etzioni, Author, "Next: The Road to the Good Society"
Watch this morning's Washington Journal, scroll to 4th listing (if you have the stomach for it)
http://www.c-span.org/journal/
I especially got in a snit because Brian Lamb seemed excited about it!
This Kansas town's mayor required guns to be "Communitnized."
Did Brian Lamb have Attilla the Hun follow the fine professor for balance? I left to split wood after hearing the sheeple bleating in agreement.We are doomed!
I saw part of the replay, YUK. He has been on before.
I first heard this term over ten years ago on one of those public radio expose'. I actually remember thinking... "what a thinly vieled version of communism. They'll never get away with this."
Crap, more leftist to fight.
I think you have to drive a Saab to follow this philosophy.
Do you think President Bush is a communitarian? The Washington Post does.
A Communitarian is a Communist who hasn't confiscated all your guns yet.
!
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